I have loved early Bally pins 1978 - 1982. So I'm buying worn out ones to put out on location. Even bought security door bars years ago, to add further security. $35 a pin licence fee in my area. I was able to include insurance under my parts business. Since I'm a manufacturer of Gottlieb LLC & Planetary Pinball, I carry $2 million Canadian. Only costs me about $1k a year.

I learned a lot the last 16 years buying about 300 Bally pins, 30 EM's, 20 Stern & 1 WOZ LE. My advice is operate the cheapest, & most reliable pins. Bally pins were the king during that time in my area, same number on location as all the others manufacturers combined on location. Lots of parts & relatively easy to service. My goal is to buy them under $1k each to operate. 50/50 split, hopefully it gets more people (new) interested in playing pinball. 25 cent play for 5 balls, no replays except for match. I'm going with 1978 - 1979 Bally pins to operate, sell the demand pins from 1980 - 1982.

I junk the worst pins for parts. Been doing that at the start when there wasn't affordable new boards.

So my first worn pin on location is Supersonic. Put it on location & it craps out in hours. They said it wasn't taking quarters, & likely jammed slots. Well it was BR3 failed, they didn't say the displays weren't on. So 2 trips wasted, everything ok after BR3 replaced with a used one (yes you have to be cheap). So go back & BR2 fails, murphy's law. So I just replaced it today, pin back & up after my 6 day vacation to Allentown.

Placed a Fish Tales on Location last week. So far so good.

FishTalesLEDd.gif

now you get to spend another $400 to add the colordmd

Already ordered

Got the ColorDMD installed today. Waiting on the ROM

I ran into an interesting snag. I'm prepping a Whirlwind to go on location. I charge $1 a game, 3 games for $2. In Canada we have a $1 coin, the loonie. In 2012, the government changed the composition of the metals used to produce it, so any coin mech made prior to 2012 won't accept the new coin. The new ones are too light.

Guess what mechs are the only ones I have on hand? Yay .gov!

I might to do the same in the near future. I have an extra FT to put on location (also have a location whose owner is asking me to put a game in his location). It is a simple, yet great game wih nice artwork.

Not sure exactly what type of coin mech you are using but if its the old mechanical "Cradle" type and weight is a problem, you can experiment by grinding down the weight disc on the cradle. The lighter coin should be able to overcome the lesser weight. Obviously, if it is an electronic coin mech, never mind!

Good suggestion, but I stumbled upon some coin mechs I had in the glove box of my truck. Ha. No idea how they ended up there ... problem solved!

The Royal Mint back in the UK has a habit of changing the coins just often enough to be irritating to operators too. I get why they do it, and the new coins are often nicer, but it's still a PITA.

I hear the one-pound coin is gonna be changing soon, because it's too easy to counterfeit. The new version is twelve-sided, bimetallic, and absolutely gorgeous. There's still gonna be grumbling, and some of it will be from me.

(putting dollar coin acceptors on my pins, giving five plays for a dollar coin, prominent "Dollar coins are available at the register" sign - coming from the UK, the very concept of a one-dollar note is bizarre to me, and even though dollar coins kinda suck, I'd still like to do a little bit to encourage their circulation)

Does any one know how to make bill acceptors bypass the magazine ? So the money just gets dropped into the coin box , I'm headed north for a couple months and one of my machines is bound to fill up before I get back..

If it's like a MARS up stacker ( or down ) the magazine unlatches and slides off. Try without it and see where they go.

LTG : )™

Policano on here has one like that, might want to ask him.

You can probably get bigger bill magazines for them. Clearance can be an issue, but I have 500 bill magazines on many of my games.

Better still, why not have a friend check on them in a month and give them a cleaning? The audits will keep everyone honest.

Seems like I can only get the 300's to clear in my machines ... And getting friends to do something like that is like pulling hair off a frogs arse.. These machines are quite a long distance away... Plus free game abuse could get high . I would rather not deal with 2nd parties... Good advice though..

These 2411s show an error when you remove the magi.. Tries that one .. Tape over sensor ? Tried that too

Thanks tj

You can always get the "low security" type stacker-less units and just let it dump the bills into the cabinet. The ones with stackers must have a magazine present to function (at least as far as MEI is concerned).

Hey Guys, Here is video of an event we just put on this past weekend. It was a lot of work but very awesome to hear people enjoy pinball!

Back in the day, you would have so many quarters that the bank would refuse to take them all.

I count by hand with a hand counter (very slick) and then just taken them to my local bank and they count for free/ exchange to bills.

Oh, jeez, I've been fighting change machines the last three days. My cheapo unit finally gave up and I can't get it working. The inhibit signal seems to not be sensed by the validator. I've given up on it and figure it is done for. I've spent waaaay too much time on it already. It isn't worth spending any more time or any money on it to try and repair it.

My location owners bought a Rowe BC-3500 and finally got power installed for it and fired it up today. The validator doesn't sense correctly. Using the manual and running through the voltage tests for the validator sensors, it appears that a couple of the photo cells must be bad. Of course I don't have anything like that on hand. I probably spent a least an hour on it today.

As for quarters, at my location I own the pins. And up until today I owned and serviced the change machine. The location owners own the claw machine and some gumball and sticker machines. I end up having to get quarters from them as more quarters go out of the change machine than go into the pins. For months it was about even and I didn't need to get quarters from them, but the last 3+ months kids have been running me out.

Good old TD Bank.

I ran an American Changer, AC1001, in my largest location and it ran flawlessly for 2 years--lost it in a fire. It holds up to $700 and will change everything from $1 to $20. I would just recycle the quarters. Occasionally, I would have to add more quarters, but that is just what happens with a changer in a public place.

Update on my change machine problems, the restaurant's Rowe BC-3500 is fixed. The person who sold it to the restaurant installed a new validator and that took care of the problem.

I'm now running an American Changer AC401. Not ideal, but it is working so far. Between the restaurant's Rowe and my AC401, I've been ending up with extra quarters and have to take them to the bank. That hasn't happened for quite a while.

My brother just got a job at 3M, moving from AZ. I was looking on the pinmap around where he lived and I found your place. I was talking to him on the phone and told him the crossroads. He casually goes, "Oh yeah, that's right across the street from my work." Nice. He's not really a pinhead per se, but enjoys playing. I told him that he should join a group, get involved in a monthly tournament, or find a location to play at. Looks like you have a good location right there.

He's always welcome! 3M is literally across the street

One of the challenges I have faced operating games today is that bartenders and staff shutdown the games up to 2 hours before they close. Its annoying and I don't want to get involved with the owner as he would be pretty angry. He always says you can't play if they aren't on. I have to agree. I installed smart outlets controlled by my home automation that I extend into the location that now turn on and off the games automatically based on a schedule we set. However if people are still playing after close and the games still have activity the motion from the camera stream will extend the timer.

Im pretty happy with this solution so far.

How about when they have them all turned off and tables set up in front of them ? Bowling tournament score keeping or something ?

LTG : )™

That'll happen every now and then.

Curious to get fellow operators input.

Current games are TAF (nice restored example), SS, STpro, and FH in our 4 game line up.
TAF and STpro get slightly more play than FH ans SS, but relatively even across the games.

Funhouse is potentially down for the count. If not an easy fix then it may be a good opportunity/ timing to swap it out?

Curious what others think/ would put in its place for a bit?

Potential replacement options are: LOTR, Getaway, Congo, Nascar, or Elvis

What do you say? Things to tweak if you suggest a specific title. Which have you seen to earn well?

Advice appreciated!

Side note in case it helps
TAF .75 and 3/$2
SS and FH at .50
ST at $1 and 3/$2.

I can only comment on LOTR. Stock up on forked switches if you intend to put it on location. They take a beating, and fail more often than anything I've come across (and have to be tweaked again every week. Pain in the butt, so I will be pulling the pin and have it sit comfortably in my game room).

On another note, I am currently renegotiating my contract with the location. Will update with the results.

LOTR has forked switches at left vuk and golim vuk, correct?

Ya I think so. Those roller type switches that are in the sword lock seem to be pretty flaky too.

I had the Balrog switch fail and replaced all the fork switches.

I had Getaway and Funhouse in my location at the same time. Funhouse did much better. After a few months, Getaway was the lowest earning machine of all 7. That being said, Getaway's success depends on your customer base. Mine is a lot of kids and the theme isn't one that draws in kids as good as other games. Adults that remember the game would play it a lot, but that doesn't make up for kids not wanting to play it.

I haven't had any of the other games you mention on location although I should have a Congo at some point in the next year. I'd think LOTR would do pretty good as long as it isn't trouble to keep it running. I also would not want LOTR in a location where monthly tournaments are held, it would really slow things down. I thought Spiderman slowed down our tournaments but LOTR would be ridiculous.

I had them both on location at the same time during tournaments. Good god it was painful. One person gets on a roll on either machine and it would delay things by hours.

Yup. Stock up on magnet fuses as well ... actually, just keep it at home. I found it got played a lot, but due to long game times it did not earn as well as others. I even maxed out difficulty and opened out lanes, then people just didnt play it since they couldnt last an hour on one dollar.

yeah, fears with LOTR are keeping it running and long game times...

thanks for the input!

You guys see this? https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152666245920555&set=pcb.10152666246290555&type=1&theater

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Glad to see you can make money on route!

I certainly don't make that kind of money!

Thats nothing man, that thing is just getting broken in.... Almost all of the Chuck E Cheese Machines I have purchased had a minimum of 20k in earnings....

Good lord! I wish that were the case for my machines lol.

Damn, I am glad to see it. Obviously if you aren't making money it doesn't make sense as a business. I was almost thinking of putting my Iron Man on coin play at leaving it here at the photography studio so we'd have a good playing one in SF

Renegotiation went better than expected! It appears I will be keeping pins on location. They like the traffic it brings in for booze and food. Win/win for everyone.

Did you all listen to the Pinheadz podcast about the impact of alternate translites? Pretty interesting and not too surprising that 'sexier' backglasses = increased revenue. Even for Monopoly!

http://www.pinheadz.com.au/podcast/ppp008-pinheadz-pinball-podcast-ep8-experts-of-dangerous-v-revenge-of-the-zombie-crash-test-dummies/

About to replace a Fish Tales with Judge Dredd. Will be in an office, set on freeplay.

Got the Deadworld mod, and it's already giving me plenty of trouble at home just trying to get it adjusted.

Should I just go without it? Seems like it will be more trouble than it is worth.

If it bothers you at home, have to travel to do it will make it worse. Even if it's at work you may have to go get tools or parts.

LTG : )™

I have 3 older pins on location at a corner store with vids. Bally Supersonic (fair), Lost World (poor), & Speak Easy (very nice). 25 cent, 5 ball for the older ones, & 3 ball on Speak Easy. Special awards extra ball, & you can match only for a free credit. Another local guy has just brought in Stern Meteor (good), 3 ball.

My take on 50/50 split for all is $20 - $40 usually a week. You aren't going to get rich, but it does offer decent pinball play in my City. Gambling pretty well killed off amusements the last 20 years. Most operators are long gone, & the local guys are mostly very friendly about operating pins. We try to promote where the last big operator doesn't want to have anything to do with small operations.

I'm lucky in that my City is only $35 a year license per machine, & I already have $2 million liability insurance with my pinball company. Self insure your own pins just like most operators did in the hay day of amusements.

I have my JD on location and for the first month I had the deadworld installed. I NEVER had a problem with it at home, but at the store I had countless problems with the game losing track of the balls with it installed. After my 5 trip up to the store to fix it, I took off the deadworld mod and went back to stock. Not one issue since.